Amit Mitra Former Finance Minister of West Bengal exhorted Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to ‘urgently’ convene a meeting of the GST Council, which has not met since June. Mitra is currently appointed as the Principal chief advisor to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Wrote a letter to Sitharaman, saying that as per the Rules of Conduct, the GST Council has to have a meeting every quarter in a fiscal year.
The last GST Council meeting was held on June 28-29 in Chandigarh. Sitharaman and her counterparts from all states last met.
Later the meeting was planned to take place in Madurai in August but due to some reason, it did not happen.
In the letter Mitra wrote “…in utter violation of this solemn provision, you have not called a single meeting of the Council over the last four-and-a-half months. Not even an intimation of any exigency was communicated to the Minister of State, Finance, of West Bengal or any other member of the GST Council,” to Sitharaman
Mitra also stated “that the two Groups of Ministers (GoMs) on GST rate rationalization and GST on casinos, online gaming, and horse racing have not been able to submit their report. The GoM on rate rationalization had in June submitted only an interim report.”
Mitra also wrote “I humbly urge you to call a meeting of the GST Council urgently. May I also urge you to bring finality, through consensus, on the serious matters pending with 2 GoMs for over a year,” in his letter to Sitharaman.
Mitra also said that not following the rules of conduct is a case of “severe undermining of the only Federalist institution where Ministers of all states and Union Territories come together, under your Chairpersonship”.
